Welch Leadership Qualities Under Welch at GE

Welch

Leadership Qualities Under Welch at GE

From the perspective of Fielders Contingency Theory of Leadership (Northhouse Figure 6.), What do you Welch's score would be on the LPC Scale?

The Fiedler Contingency Theory suggests that leaders who are motivated by situational parameters, or who are task-oriented, will tend to take a lest humanist approach to their responsibilities. The way in which Jack Welch would objectively eliminate countless underperforming divisions of GE suggests that he was decidedly task orientated in his leadership approach. This, Fiedler suggests, would make him a low scorer on the LPC scale.

Welch's core Leadership Orientation/Motivation would be change. Welch can be clearly identified as a transformative or change-driven leader. Indeed, he would step into the company during a recession and verging on the need for a dramatic modernization and revitalization.

Though there may have existed some concern at the start of his tenure over whether or not Welch was suited for the prestigious position, the actions that he would take upon assuming duties would demonstrate the need for a truly dynamic and transformative leader. According to the case history, he would sell off more than 200 prominent holdings that were either underperforming or could not be streamlined. He would replace these with 370 new acquisitions. The shift would bring about a momentous change in the company's ability for growth.

To the point, at the end of Welch's tenure, there can be little question that he oversaw a period of momentous success for the corporate giant. He would help to drive the company to new heights of growth, with GE realizing more than $100 billion in revenue during his anticipated final year as CEO.

The most problematic implication of Welch's leadership is the concern that his dynamic and hands-on style of leadership cannot be replicated. Such is to say that it may not be entirely clear that the system left behind by Welch is conducive to the needs of a successor.

5. Analyze and Criticaly evaluate Welch's Leadership relative to Leader-Memeber Exchange Theory (Northouse Figure 8.1-8.4).

Following the period of major restructuring, Welch would shift his leadership orientation with an emphasis on improving company culture. It would be at this point that he would begin to focus on improving openness and multidirectional exchange within the company. This would be evocative of the Leader-Member Exchange theory, which "conceptualizes leadership as a process that is center on interactions between leaders and followers." (Northouse, p. 161)